LITMIR.BIZ

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and nearly cost you a billion dollars.’

      ‘I tricked you into marrying me.’

      ‘There have been some upsides to that,’ she admitted, looking from his face to the tumbled bedclothes. At least in bed naked she had no trouble understanding him. ‘And I’m not eighteen anymore. I knew what I was doing. I admit I never expected to enjoy anything about these eighteen months.’

      Even from the several yards that separated them she could see the lines of strain around his mouth as he began to walk back across the room towards her, looking very like her mental image of a dark, dangerous pirate with his bare feet, rippling muscle, his chest gleaming gold and the stubble on his face giving him a dangerously attractive look of dissipation. In a fair world it would be illegal for a man to be this sexy.

      So the world is not fair, Mari—deal and stop drooling! She was dragging her eyes clear of the open fastener on his waistband when he spoke, his deep voice just audible above the blood rushing in her ears.

      ‘Has it occurred to you that the eighteen-month rule might be out of the window?’

      Utterly confused, Mari searched his face, looking for a trace of the warm, sensitively passionate lover who had taught her so much about her own body in just one night, and morning...but he wasn’t there. Just a sombre-faced stranger, not the man she had fallen... The blood drained from her face as she swallowed and thought, No, I can’t have... It’s just sex. Very good sex, but just sex. Love is—

      ‘Unless you are on the pill?’

      Too busy arguing with herself, she still didn’t see where he was going with this. ‘Why would I be?’

      ‘I didn’t use anything. You could be pregnant.’ Her comment about not wanting children had not seemed relevant at the time; now it did.

      His words hit her with the force of a lightning bolt. She gasped and hit back, fear making her voice cold. ‘Do you make a habit of having unprotected sex with one-night stands?’

      His dark eyes glittering, the sharply defined contours of his high cheekbones were accentuated by a dull flush as he ground out what she was assuming—no major leap—was a swear word and dragged a hand across his set jaw.

      ‘It was a first. I’m sorry.’

      She gave a sniff, feeling guilty now that she had lashed out at him. At the end of the day, she’d become just as caught up in the moment and had behaved just as recklessly as Seb had. ‘So am I. It’s as much my fault as yours,’ she acknowledged.

      Seb gave a hard laugh. ‘I seriously doubt that many people would agree with you, and you are not a one-night stand. You are my wife.’

      ‘For eighteen months...’

      ‘Maybe.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ she demanded, gathering the quilt around her.

      ‘I mean if last night results in a baby, that time limit vanishes. There is no way that my child would be brought up by another man.’

      When she finally spoke, her voice sounded weirdly controlled, perhaps to compensate for the total chaos rampaging in her head. ‘I’m not having a baby.’ And I’m not in love.

      ‘You’re right. It probably won’t happen. Why don’t we deal with it when or if the time arises?’

      She shook her head. ‘You really are unbelievable. How am I meant to think about anything else now? It would be a disaster!’ she wailed, thinking disaster was not a big enough word to describe being trapped in marriage with a man who didn’t love you. She had always felt sorry for those people who ‘stayed together because of the baby’ and she didn’t want to be one of them!

      His jaw tightened. ‘What are the odds?’

      Confused by the abrupt question, she shook her head.

      ‘Of you conceiving.’

      ‘Oh.’ She flushed self-consciously and did a quick mental calculation and swallowed. ‘Pretty high,’ she admitted. ‘Why is this happening?’ She pressed her face with her hands and released a muffled wail. ‘I can’t have a baby!’

      ‘Calm down.’ He sat down on the bed and brought her hands together, covering them with his. ‘I know you don’t want children but—’

      ‘Who said I didn’t want children?’ she flared.

      ‘You did.’

      ‘Not my own—there are so many children out there who need homes. I’m going to adopt.’

      He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, wondering if he could feel any more of a total bastard.

      ‘What? What have I said now?’

      He shook his head.

      ‘So what now? You’re the one who said he was good at thinking on his feet.’

      The slow dangerous smile that split his lean face did not lessen the tension that drew the skin taut across his high cheekbones. ‘I am thinking, but you are distracting me.’

      She followed the direction of his gaze and pulled the quilt up over her breasts, before angling a hot-cheeked look of accusation at his face. ‘You’re thinking about sex at a time like this?’

      ‘I can multitask,’ he promised her. ‘How does this work for you? We cut the honeymoon a bit short and go straight back to Mandeville, at least until we know for sure one way or the other. We’ll need to consult with an obstetrician. There are probably a few things you should and shouldn’t be doing.’

      ‘Stop it. I am not some sort of...incubator!’ A short while ago she had been a desirable woman he had wanted to make love to; now she was what...a mother?

      A mother... A shiver of reaction worked its way through Mari’s body as the words echoed in her head.

      At least now she knew the answer to one of the questions she had been asking herself on and off virtually all her life. While she still didn’t know what made any mother abandon her child, she did know that she never could.

      Facing the slim possibility there might be a baby, Mari knew that nothing in the world would make her give it up. She knew, but what about Seb? Would he ask her to? Would he assume she’d have a termination?

      ‘Don’t be ridiculous! Look, I didn’t plan on having a family now either, but—ʼ

      She wanted to cry, but instead she tuned him out. It was ironic really; she had guarded her heart so well all those years, and the first time she let down her guard... God, she had terrible taste in men. At least she hadn’t fallen for him.

       You keep on telling yourself that, Mari.

      ‘What happens if I am pregnant? What, as a matter of interest, is your grand plan? I’m sure you’ve got one.’

      ‘Isn’t it obvious?’

      She tensed. ‘Not to me.’

      ‘We stay married.’ He angled a searching look at her face. ‘You look surprised. What did you think I was going to say?’

      She shook her head. ‘What about love?’

      ‘We are not talking song titles here, Mari. We are talking about giving our child, should there be one, a secure upbringing.’

      ‘There might not be a child,’ she reminded him. The addition was for her own benefit. ‘Probably won’t be.’

      He nodded and looked at her. ‘But until we know for sure... Mandeville?’

      Reluctantly she nodded.

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